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Tourist spending still down even as number of visitors inch up

A total of 13.8 million tourists flocked to Singapore from January to November 2015, according to data released by the Singapore Tourism Board.

After declining steeply from January to April, visitor arrivals staged a recovery from May onwards on back of double-digit growth in arrivals from China.

The number of Chinese visitors—who make up one of Singapore's largest tourism markets—rose 21.2% from January to November. Over 1.9 million Chinese tourists flocked to Singapore over the period.

However, the growth in visitor numbers failed to translate to higher tourism receipts. As of the most recently available data in the second quarter, overall tourism receipts stood at $5.2 billion, down 9% year-on-year. The STB said that this decline was mainly on back of lower spending on accommodation, sightseeing, entertainment and gaming.

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